A wireless mesh network includes wireless access points (APs) connected to each other through a network of wireless backhaul links. A root AP (RAP) of the mesh network has a wired connection to a wired network and connects with mesh APs (mesh APs) through the backhaul links. A controller connected to the wired network provides central control of the mesh network. The controller connects with each root AP to route data traffic associated with the AP, for example, from wireless clients served by the AP, to and from the wired network. If such connectivity between the APs and the controller is lost, the mesh network dissolves and the data traffic associated with each AP can no longer be routed to and from the wired network.
APs in the mesh network may serve clients in wireless local area network (WLANs). The WLANs may be assigned to virtual local area networks (VLANs) configured on the wired network. When VLANs are added to or deleted from the wired network, and as APs serve new WLANs, the assignments between WLANs and VLANs become outdated and, thus, wireless traffic cannot be routed properly from the WLANs to the VLANs in the wired network. This problem is exacerbated by roaming of APs within the mesh network.
Furthermore, the mesh network may be subdivided into multiple Internet Protocol (IP) subnets. A child AP may roam from a first parent AP to a second parent AP within the same IP subnet or across different IP subnets. Properly accounting for the roaming of an AP across different IP subnets is important to maintain a stable operation of the wireless mesh network.